Your biggest risk? The employees you rely on the most

One risk companies face is relying too heavily on a few key employees, as Cheryl, the company’s chief marketing officer, discovered. In her company, she had already lost two team members and faced additional setbacks when her product marketing lead resigned and a marketing manager expressed burnout. Cheryl worried that losing the manager who ran the firm’s content platform could be disastrous.

The issue of relying on essential employees is not limited to the aviation industry, as a report from the National Academies found that 40% of delays at major U.S. air traffic control facilities were due to staffing shortages. The shortage of controllers has been a problem for years, with the number of controllers shrinking by 13% between 2010 and 2024 despite operations increasing by 4%. The shortage is difficult to reverse, as it takes an average of 5.5 years for new hires to become fully certified.

In businesses, the consequences of relying too much on key employees can be just as severe. When a role is eliminated, the remaining employees often take on the extra work without reassessing their workload. This can lead to burnout and a lack of redundancy in critical functions. Companies need to take a step back and identify what work can be paused or stopped without jeopardizing key priorities.

They should also ensure that the remaining work is not held by a single person, as this can lead to a bottleneck and increase the risk of losing that employee's knowledge.

Leaders should delegate work to other team members and give them ownership of the tasks. This not only builds redundancy but also allows for the development of new skills and knowledge-sharing within the team. By addressing the issue of over-reliance on key employees, companies can mitigate their biggest risk and ensure long-term success.